News Reports & Source Links

Biography entry, including a record of the former name "Chengdu Restaurant," a list of disciples, honorary titles, and other information; cross-verified against multiple sections of this site. Continuously updated, no fixed publication date.

An independent source confirming Yu Jianmin, Yao Yufu, Hou Xinglin, and other disciples from the same post-Cultural-Revolution cohort. Continuously updated, no fixed publication date.

A first-person memoir by a Beijing Sichuan Restaurant colleague, detailing the full story of the restaurant's wartime renaming to "Chengdu Restaurant" during the Cultural Revolution, a roster of founding kitchen elders (Huang Shaoqing, Chen Haiqing, and others), the complete list of disciples across two generations (before and after the Cultural Revolution), and details such as a self-devised "banquet à la carte cost accounting sheet." High informational and historical value.

A fairly complete biographical overview covering his background, specific instances of cooking for party and state leaders, the 1992 "World Master Chef" title, and his published works.

Written in 1988 and compiled from materials provided by Chen Songru himself; contains strongly first-hand content on the figures involved in the restaurant's founding, the impact of the Cultural Revolution, and the process of reopening as "Chengdu Restaurant."

A detailed account of how Chen Songru received the "World Master Chef of Oriental Cuisine" title in 1992.

A provincial party-media report covering Chen Songru's background, his innovation of over 200 Sichuan dishes (50 of which became classic recipes passed down), and Chen Tinglong's 2019 donation of recipe manuscripts back to his hometown of Ziyang.

An industry database entry hosted by the Sichuan Economic and Cultural Association.

Covers Chen Songru's 1985 invited lectures at the Heilongjiang Institute of Commerce, his 1987 Singapore demonstration praised by Lee Kuan Yew, and his on-the-spot decision to serve dandan noodles as the opening course at a 1987 Zhongnanhai state banquet. A self-media compilation article; for reference only.

A first-person account by Chen Songru's disciple Liu Zihua: in 1959, when Zhou Enlai inspected the restaurant during its founding, he specifically instructed that the "Er Bei Dining Hall" be kept open so ordinary citizens could taste Sichuan cuisine; Chen Songru and other veteran chefs taught younger cooks that "only by mastering à la carte dishes can one master banquet dishes."

Recounts the founding history of the Beijing Sichuan Restaurant (Zhou Enlai's proposal, Zhu De's insistence on "keeping the true Sichuan flavor," Chen Yi as "half-manager," etc.), and describes head chef Chen Songru entering Zhongnanhai three times to serve Chairman Mao and instructing 32 North Korean chefs in Sichuan cuisine.

An official government source recounting the restaurant's founding — proposed by Zhu De and Chen Yi, named by Zhou Enlai — and its recent revival of several lost classic Sichuan banquet dishes and compilation of historical banquet menus.

On July 25, 2019, Chen Tinglong donated 21 items — Chen Songru's manuscripts and personal effects — to the Ziyang Municipal Party Committee, predating the 2024 donation event.

On April 23, 2024, Chen Tinglong donated Chen Songru's working manuscripts and precious historical materials from the Beijing Sichuan Restaurant to the Sichuan Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center and the Sichuan History Society's Sichuan Cuisine Oral History Committee.

Another authoritative media report on the same donation event, noting the more than 500 dishes Chen Songru compiled and works such as 160 Authentic Sichuan Recipes and Beijing Sichuan Restaurant Menu; the event also honored ten representative inheritors of traditional Sichuan culinary techniques.

Reports on a heritage-transmission event at the Sichuan Restaurant, in which second-generation successor Yu Jianmin presented the Sichuan Restaurant's Old Recipe Book to a new generation of chefs, reflecting the brand's continued legacy today.